Drowning Woman Saved On Magician Lake

There were some heroes on the water and the shore on Magician Lake in Cass County over the weekend. The sheriff's department says Juan Bethancourt of Plainfield, Illinois pulled 66-year-old Karen Baliunas of Dowagiac out of the water and onto a pier when he noticed her struggle and go under the water. With the help of neighbor Shelly Hennen, who is a registered nurse, they performed CPR and revived Baliunas. She was not breathing when she was pulled out of the lake. Baliunas was taken to Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph, where she is in stable condition. She told police she had been swimming near her pier and got disoriented, leading to the near-drowning.